NASH ICONS Taps Jim Weatherson as GM

Industry veteran will helm Nashville joint venture between Big Machine Label Group and Cumulus radio chain.

Industry vet Jim Weatherson has been named general manager of NASH ICONS, the record label and live events joint venture between Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group and the Cumulus radio chain.

NASH ICONS was created last month as a strategic partnership between the label and the radio chain to expand the growing NASH platform, showcasing Nashville talent from the last 25 years. Cumulus will introduce the NASH ICONS format and branding on several owned and operated stations, while syndicating the content to affiliate stations through WestwoodOne.

Weatherson has a 35-year history in the music industry, most recently heading the Nashville office of 19 Entertainment, owner of the American Idol franchise, and previously led projects for Taylor Swift in a management role at 13 Management.

Weatherson was previously appointed gm of Walt Disney Records in 2006 with worldwide responsibilities that resulted in record-breaking sales highlighted by the successful releases of Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Cars and Tron, which featured music from such artists as Miley Cyrus, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, John Mayer and Daft Punk, among many others.

"I have known Scott Borchetta for nearly 25 years and I am honestly thrilled and honored to finally get to work directly with him and his team as well as Cumulus on this groundbreaking concept,” said Weatherson.

“Jim Weatherson is the perfect executive to lead the charge for NASH ICONS. We have a longstanding relationship of working together on some of the biggest country artists and album releases in history. To land him and have his 100% focus on ICONS will only lead to one thing: success,” said Big Machine Label Group president & CEO Scott Borchetta.

“Jim’s experience and the respect he’s earned in the music business will enable NASH ICONS to quickly become a leader in recording and live events for the Country stars we hold in such high regard,” added Cumulus evp/co-COO John Dickey.

NASH ICONS is intended to provide a new distribution platform for country music’s most iconic artists, including their future recordings as well as provide advertisers a way to reach country music fans through a combination of radio, television, digital, magazine and live events.

NASH ICONS is based at the NASH Campus in Nashville, a multi-media facility devoted to producing and distributing content based on the country music lifestyle, featuring three studios designed for a combination of TV and radio programming, indoor and outdoor event space, a print newsroom and extensive office space.